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As the claims of Austrian economists are difficult to verify through empirical testing (and the same economists openly admit to it), it is generally considered to be a heterodox approach[3] or outright pseudoscience. Austrian arguments as to why statistical methods cannot adequately describe human behavior can seem intuitively compelling, but they fail to provide the mathematical proof demonstrating why normally unbiased estimates suddenly become biased simply because they are dealing with people who make decisions. In this sense, the Austrian school is to economics as Psychoanalysis, a certain other Austrian school was to psychology.

Perhaps one reason supporters of the Austrian School are so uncomfortable with empiricism is that Austrian economists are more interested in defending the political ideology of libertarianism than they are in advancing economic understanding,[4] and rigorous testing can sometimes undermine deeply held political beliefs. [5]

Many economists are critical of the current-day Austrian School and feel it rejects many types of economic analysis that mainstream economic theory accepts.